Firearm mounting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm includes a body member having at least one mounting rail configured to support a firearm accessory and a barrel adapter positioned between the body member and a firearm barrel. The barrel adapter including a movement limiting member configured to limit movement of the body member relative to the firearm barrel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a mounting apparatus for firearms and, moreparticularly, to a firearm accessory mount including a number ofauxiliary mounting features for mounting additional accessories to afirearm.

2. Description of the Related Art

A telescopic sight is one type of aiming device that has long been usedin conjunction with firearms, such as rifles and handguns, to assist ashooter in aiming the firearm. More recently, other aiming devices suchas laser markers, range finders, and infrared imaging devices have beendeveloped for use with firearms. These aiming devices are typicallymounted to the firearm above a barrel or receiver of the firearm using amounting rack or mounting rings. In addition to aiming devices, otheraccessories may be mounted to a firearm, such as a flashlight, to aid inthe use of the firearm.

Conventional mounting apparatus, while satisfactory in facilitating theremoval of a firearm accessory from a firearm for replacement withanother firearm accessory, are adapted to mount only one accessory to afirearm at a time. Additionally, the location of a firearm accessory ona firearm may be dependent on the environment in which the firearm willbe used. For example, firearm mounting apparatus positioned near themiddle or rear of a firearm are more suitable for middle or longdistance shooting where the firearm user has sufficient time to aim andshoot. In contrast, close-combat environments, such as an urbanenvironment, typically afford the user very little time to aim andshoot. In this type of environment, it may be more practical to mount afirearm accessory near the front of a firearm barrel, since shootersintuitively point the end of their firearm barrel at a target.

Accordingly, a need exists for an improved firearm mounting apparatusthat is configured to secure more than one firearm accessory to afirearm and is adapted to be mounted near the front of a firearm barrelfor use in close-combat environments or other quick-aiming situations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm is provided that include abody member including at least one mounting rail configured to support afirearm accessory and a barrel adapter positioned between the bodymember and a firearm barrel. The barrel adapter includes a movementlimiting member configured to limit movement of the body member relativeto the firearm barrel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a firearm and a mounting apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the invention, showing the mountingapparatus supporting a number of firearm accessories on the firearm;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the firearm mounting apparatus ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the firearm mounting apparatus ofFIG. 1, shown with a barrel adapter;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the firearm mounting apparatus ofFIG. 1, shown without the barrel adapter;

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the firearm mounting apparatus ofFIG. 1, shown without the barrel adapter;

FIG. 6 is an exploded end view, in perspective, of the barrel adaptershown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of a mounting rail of thefirearm mounting apparatus of FIG. 1, showing a swivel received in anaperture of the mounting rail; and

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of a mounting rail of thefirearm mounting apparatus of FIG. 1, showing a swivel stud received inan aperture of the mounting rail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, the preferred illustrative embodiments ofthe present invention are shown in detail. Although the drawingsrepresent some preferred embodiments of the present invention, thedrawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may beexaggerated to better illustrate and explain the present invention.Further, the embodiments set forth herein are not intended to beexhaustive or otherwise limit or restrict the invention to the preciseforms and configurations shown in the drawings and disclosed in thefollowing detailed description.

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary firearm 10, such as a rifle, isprovided that includes a barrel 12 secured to a receiver 14 in a knownmanner. A first firearm accessory 16, which in the illustratedembodiment is a long range flashlight but is not limited thereto, issecured to barrel 12, and therefore to firearm 10, by a mountingapparatus 18 according to the present invention. As illustrated in FIG.1, mounting apparatus 18 may be configured to support more than onefirearm accessory 16, including without limitation, a short rangeflashlight 16′, as will be described in further detail below.

Referring to FIGS. 2-5, an embodiment of mounting apparatus 18 is shown.Mounting apparatus 18 includes a body member 20 having at least onemounting rail 22, including without limitation, a Picatinny orWeaver-style mounting rail, configured to support firearm accessories16, 16′. In the illustrated embodiment, mounting apparatus 18 includesthree mounting rails 22, each configured to support a firearm accessory16, 16′. However, it will be appreciated that body member 20 may beconfigured with any number of mounting rails 22, or no mounting rail atall.

In an embodiment, body member 20 is a generally U-shaped structurehaving a pair of deflectable longitudinally extending side members 24and 26 that define a variable capacity channel 28 sized to receive abarrel adapter 30. As shown in FIG. 1, barrel adapter 30 is positionedbetween body member 20 and firearm barrel 12. In an embodiment, barreladapter 30 includes a pair of generally semi-circular adapter halves32A, 32B (FIGS. 3 and 6) that are inserted into channel 28 betweenfirearm barrel 12 and body 20.

Referring to FIG. 6, barrel adapter 30 also includes a movement limitingmember 34 configured to limit movement of body member 20 relative tofirearm barrel 12. In an embodiment, movement limiting member 34includes a radially outwardly extending flange 36 that abuts body member20 when mounting apparatus 18 is secured to barrel 20. When soconfigured, body member 20 is sandwiched between a structural member offirearm 10, such as a sight housing 38, and flange 36 to inhibit axialmovement of body member 20 on barrel 12.

To inhibit movement of barrel adapter 30 relative to barrel 12, movementlimiting member 34 may include a gripping surface 40 (FIG. 3) thatcontacts barrel 12. For example, gripping surface 40 may include aplurality of elevated ridges formed on the inside of barrel adapter 30that “bite” into the surface of barrel 12 when adapter 30 is pressedagainst barrel 12. In another example, gripping surface 40 may includean adhesive coating on the inside of barrel adapter 30 that adheres tobarrel 12 when adapter 30 is placed upon barrel 12.

Body member 20 also includes at least one threaded fastener 42, such asa screw, which is secured to each of the longitudinally extending sidemembers 24, 26 and is rotatable relative to side members 24, 26 to movethe longitudinally extending side members toward and away from eachother to reduce and enlarge the capacity of channel 28, respectively.Enlarging the capacity of channel 28 allows barrel adapter 30 to beeasily inserted into channel 28 between barrel 12 and body member 20during assembly of the components onto firearm 10. Reducing the capacityof channel 28 secures body member 20 to firearm 10 by pressing thebarrel adapter 30 between barrel 12 and body member 20. The variablecapacity channel 28 allows the use of different diameter barrel adapters30 to accommodate various barrel diameters.

Each mounting rail 22 may also include at least one aperture 44 sized toreceive a secondary accessory 46, such as, for example, a swivel orswivel stud. When so configured, aperture 44 may include an inner groove48 having a diameter greater than the diameter of the aperture 44itself. As shown in FIG. 7, groove 48 receives one or more spring loadedbearings 50 in secondary accessory 46, which function to releasablyretain secondary accessory 46 within aperture 44. In another embodimentshown in FIG. 8, aperture 44 includes a ledge 52 that prevents passageof a flange 54 of the secondary accessory 46 and, accordingly, removalof secondary accessory 46 from the corresponding mounting rail 22.

The present invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to the foregoing embodiments, which are merely illustrative ofthe best modes for carrying out the invention. It should be understoodby those skilled in the art that various alternatives to the embodimentsof the invention described herein may be employed in practicing theinvention without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas defined in the following claims. It is intended that the followingclaims define the scope of the invention and that the method andapparatus within the scope of these claims and their equivalents becovered thereby. This description of the invention should be understoodto include all novel and non-obvious combinations of elements describedherein, and claims may be presented in this or a later application toany novel and non-obvious combination of these elements. Moreover, theforegoing embodiments are illustrative, and no single feature or elementis essential to all possible combinations that may be claimed in this ora later application.

1. A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm, comprising: a bodymember including at least one mounting rail configured to support afirearm accessory; and a barrel adapter positioned between the bodymember and a firearm barrel, the barrel adapter including a movementlimiting member configured to limit movement of the body member relativeto the firearm barrel.
 2. The mounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein thebody member includes a plurality of mounting rails.
 3. The mountingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the mounting rail includes at least oneaperture sized to receive a secondary accessory.
 4. The mountingapparatus of claim 3, wherein the aperture includes an inner groovehaving a diameter greater than the aperture itself, the groove sized toreceive one or more spring loaded bearings in the secondary accessory,which retain the secondary accessory within the aperture.
 5. Themounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body member is a generallyU-shaped structure having a pair of deflectable longitudinally extendingside members that define a variable capacity channel sized to receivethe barrel adapter.
 6. The mounting apparatus of claim 5, wherein thebody member includes at least one threaded fastener secured to each ofthe longitudinally extending side members and rotatable to move thelongitudinally extending side members toward and away from each other toreduce and enlarge the size of the channel, respectively.
 7. Themounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the barrel adapter includes apair of generally semi-circular adapter halves.
 8. The mountingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the movement limiting member includes aradially outwardly extending flange.
 9. The mounting apparatus of claim1, wherein the movement limiting member includes a gripping surface thatcontacts the barrel.
 10. The mounting apparatus of claim 9, wherein thegripping surface includes a plurality of elevated ridges.
 11. Themounting apparatus of claim 9, wherein the gripping surface includes anadhesive that contacts the barrel.
 12. The mounting apparatus of claim1, wherein the mounting rail is a Picatinny or Weaver-style mountingrail.
 13. A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm, comprising: abody member including at least two mounting rails configured to supporta firearm accessory; and a barrel adapter positioned between the bodymember and a firearm barrel, the barrel adapter configured to limitmovement of the body member relative to the firearm barrel.
 14. Themounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the body member includes aplurality of mounting rails.
 15. The mounting apparatus of claim 13,wherein the mounting rails include at least one aperture sized toreceive a secondary accessory.
 16. The mounting apparatus of claim 15,wherein the aperture includes an inner groove having a diameter greaterthan the aperture itself, the groove sized to receive one or more springloaded bearings in the secondary accessory, which retain the secondaryaccessory within the aperture.
 17. The mounting apparatus of claim 13,wherein the body member is a generally U-shaped structure having a pairof deflectable longitudinally extending side members that define avariable capacity channel sized to receive the barrel adapter.
 18. Themounting apparatus of claim 17, wherein the body member includes atleast one threaded fastener secured to each of the longitudinallyextending side members and rotatable to move the longitudinallyextending side members toward and away from each other to reduce andenlarge the size of the channel, respectively.
 19. The mountingapparatus of claim 13, wherein the barrel adapter includes a pair ofgenerally semi-circular adapter halves.
 20. The mounting apparatus ofclaim 13, wherein the barrel adapter includes a radially outwardlyextending flange.
 21. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein thebarrel adapter includes a gripping surface that contacts the barrel. 22.The mounting apparatus of claim 21, wherein the gripping surfaceincludes a plurality of elevated ridges.
 23. The mounting apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the gripping surface includes an adhesive thatcontacts the barrel.
 24. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein themounting rail is a Picatinny or Weaver-style mounting rail.
 25. Amounting apparatus for use with a firearm, comprising: a body memberincluding a generally U-shaped structure having a pair of longitudinallyextending side members that define a variable capacity channel, thelongitudinally extending side members each including a mounting rail,each mounting rail being configured to support a firearm accessory; anda barrel adapter positioned between the body member and a firearmbarrel, the barrel adapter including a pair of generally semi-circularadapter halves and a movement limiting member configured to limitmovement of the body member relative to the firearm barrel.